In order to meet our increasing demands for electrical energy, the need for effective electrical transmission lines is obvious. Indeed, the fact that electricity can be used for a wide variety of applications is well recognized and innumerable examples can be given wherein electricity makes possible many of the activities in our daily lives which would otherwise be impossible. Furthermore, any advancements in the electrical arts have accumulative effect on our demands for electricity. Consequently, more effective means for transmitting electrical energy are constantly being sought. It happens that particularly promising advancements in the electrical arts are now being actively pursued in the field of superconductors.
The use of superconductors for the manufacture of electrical wires or cables and for long electrical transmission lines raises many technical issues which stem from the fact that superconductor materials are inherently difficult to manufacture and difficult to handle. For instance, the popularly so-called 1-2-3 superconductor is operationally effective in a ceramic form. Ceramics, however, are extremely brittle and are not able to withstand much, if any, stress in tension. Moreover, although ceramics can withstand some stress in compression, even this capacity is minimal. Ceramic superconductors are, unfortunately, no exception. Consequently, if improperly handled, ceramic superconductors can be easily damaged. Typically, mechanical damage to a ceramic superconductor is manifested as cracks and breaks in the ceramic that have serious adverse consequences on the ability of the superconductor to be a superconductor. The answer to this problem is, of course, to effectively protect the ceramic superconductor with a properly supporting substrate during its operative application. Equally important, the ceramic superconductor must not be damaged during the process in which it is joined to the supporting substrate.
To address the problem of how to join a ceramic superconductor to a supporting substrate, some well-known phenomenon are helpful. For example, it is well-known that a solid structure can be surrounded by a liquid or a semi-liquid element without physically damaging the solid structure. Subsequently, as such a liquid or semi-liquid element is properly hardened around the solid structure, the solid structure will be encased or embedded in the hardened element which was previously a liquid. Further, by simultaneously attaching or bonding the element to a substrate as the element is being hardened onto the structure, the structure itself can be effectively supported by the substrate. Where, however, the substrate is a ceramic superconductor material, this seemingly straight forward process becomes extremely complicated. Not only is there a need to address the problem of how to avoid physically damaging the fragile superconductor material, there is still the problem of how to avoid chemical damage to the structure (i.e., superconductor ceramic) during the process.
In light of the above it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for joining a ceramic superconductor filament with a protective supporting substrate without causing inoperable damage to the ceramic superconductor. Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for joining a ceramic superconductor filament with a protective supporting substrate without causing substantially adverse chemical damage to the ceramic superconductor. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a process for joining multiple ceramic superconductor filaments with a protective supporting substrate to fabricate operatively effective lengths of superconductor wire. Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate for a superconductor element which functions as an electrical current bypass. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous process for joining a ceramic superconductor filament with a protective supporting substrate which is relatively easy to reproduce and which is comparatively cost effective to implement.